Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
‘The most audacious print ever made’
04 February 2017THE highlight of Christie’s Old Master prints catalogue on January 25 – the first New York sale the auctioneer has held in this category for 15 years – was this monumental woodcut by Titian.
Auctionata files for insolvency
28 January 2017Troubled online auctioneer seeks new funding as investors circle around subsidiaries
Imperial sleeper – Chinese vase makes 150-times estimate at Somerset auction
26 January 2017Drawing spectacular bidding at Lawrences of Crewkerne, this rare Chinese altar vase was knocked down at over 150-times estimate at the Somerset saleroom’s latest fine art auction. It was thought to have been specially commissioned by the Qing court for ceremonial use in palaces and temples.
Irish porringer heads for home
21 January 2017Rare survivor from the Emerald Isle shines as it reappears after almost 50 years in Essex sale
Woolleys stays top of regional league table with seven-figure Benin sale
21 January 2017A SPECTACULAR private treaty sale of an icon of ethnographic art helped Woolley & Wallis retain its status as the UK’s leading regional saleroom in 2016.
Partridge vendor returns Turkish burial vessel
21 January 2017THIS week representatives of Adam Partridge, auctioneers and valuers in Macclesfield, visited the Turkish Embassy in London to oversee the return of a Bronze Age artefact from Anatolia.
A state of flux – situation normal
21 January 2017Ever-changing fairs scene in the Sunshine State is now further affected by venue closure
Pick of the Week: A profiteer of the South Sea Bubble
21 January 2017THIS remarkable ‘English School’ satirical oil is recorded in contemporary prints titled Lucifer’s New Row-Barge, a version of which is in the British Museum. It depicts Robert Knight (1675-1744), the cashier of the South Sea Company who in 1719 successfully negotiated with the government of the day to incorporate all the national debt into the South Sea Company. Knight greatly profited personally from this process – and the many bribes to MPs and peers he recorded in a famous green book – and bought an estate in Essex for £20,000.
Benin bronze helps Woolley & Wallis retain lead in regional sales league
20 January 2017A private treaty sale of a Benin bronze head helped Woolley & Wallis retain its status as the UK’s leading regional saleroom in 2016.
Bronze Age jug returned to Turkey
17 January 2017A Bronze Age artefact from Anatolia has been returned to Turkey after a ceremony at the Turkish Embassy in London.
Van De Velde’s Westerwald project brings £17,000
31 December 2016THIS stoneware vase (pictured right) designed by Henry Van De Velde (1863-1957) for Reinhold Hanke c.1902 was sold by Mallams in Oxford for £17,000 on December 8.
Pick of the Week: Rie price bowls over a record
31 December 2016THE market for Lucie Rie ceramics continues to thrive. A new auction high for the doyenne of the British studio pottery movement was posted by Phillips in New York on December 13 – the fourth occasion a record has been set in just two years.
Lucie Rie record broken for fourth time in two years as porcelain bowl takes $170,000 bid
21 December 2016The market for Lucie Rie ceramics continues to thrive. A new auction high for the doyenne of the British studio pottery movement was posted by Phillips in New York this month– the fourth occasion a record has been set in just two years.
Harry Hyams' collection of art and vintage cars to be placed on public view
19 December 2016Property developer and collector Harry Hyams, who died in December 2015, has left much of his £487m estate to a charity that will preserve his collection for the nation.
Doccia porcelain dishes sell for £70,000 despite poor condition
17 December 2016A group of three Doccia porcelain dishes from c.1740-45 sold for £70,000 at a stellar sale at Cheffins in Cambridge.
Museum slams ‘Van Gogh sketchbook’
09 December 2016The Van Gogh Museum has issued an extraordinary public rebuttal to the release of ‘Vincent van Gogh: The Lost Arles Sketchbook’, criticising the authors for their “excessively easy going attitude… towards questions of authenticity”.
Form, glaze and rarity lift Van De Velde vase at Oxford auction
08 December 2016This stoneware vase designed by Henry Van De Velde for Reinhold Hanke was sold at Mallams in Oxford earlier today for £17,000.
Judge issues ruling in California ivory ban
07 December 2016The Los Angeles Superior Court has upheld California’s uncompromising ban on the sale of most ivory objects.
Bonhams sets record for Tibetan sculpture after nine minutes of bidding
07 December 2016An imposing brass alloy figure of Canda Vajrapani set an auction record for a Tibetan sculpture when it was knocked down at HK$42.5m (£4.34m) at Bonhams Hong Kong.
London dealer sues artist’s foundation in New York
06 December 2016London’s Mayor Gallery has filed a complaint in New York state court claiming the Agnes Martin foundation acted wrongly when rejecting works submitted for authentication.